Change One Shape to Another in PowerPoint 2003 and 2002 for Windows

Once you place an AutoShape on a PowerPoint slide, you may change its fill or outline, or you may add animation to it. Later, you may realize that you used the wrong AutoShape. Probably, you used a star in place of a triangle, and you may be tempted to delete the original AutoShape altogether and start from scratch by adding a new AutoShape, You then change its fill and add animation to it. The good news is that you need not work so hard, because you can easily change any existing AutoShape to another.

Follow these steps to change any existing shape to another, in PowerPoint 2003 or 2002 for Windows:

1. Select the AutoShape that you want to change, as shown in Figure 1, below.
2. 
   Figure 1: Selected Autoshape
2. Access the Drawing toolbar, typically located at the bottom of the PowerPoint interface, and click the Draw button, as shown in Figure 2, below.
3. 
   Figure 2: Draw button within the Drawing toolbar

Where is the Drawing Toolbar?

If the Drawing toolbar is not visible, choose the View | Toolbars | Drawing option.
3. From the resultant menu, choose the Change AutoShape option, as shown in Figure 3, below. Doing so brings up the submenus for the various AutoShape categories. Choose the category you want and select the AutoShape you need to change to, as shown in Figure 3.
4. 
   Figure 3: Choose AutoShape to change
4. This action will change the existing AutoShape to the new variant you chose in the previous step, as shown in Figure 4, below. Note that the new AutoShape has the same fill and outline attributes as the earlier AutoShape (compare Figures 1 and 4). Any other attributes such as hyperlinks or animation will also transfer to the new AutoShape.
5. 
   Figure 4: Changed AutoShape
5. Save your presentation often.